Police have arrested two people after the fatal stabbing of a New Jersey man who relatives say was trying to defend his 8-year-old son from being robbed.

Detectives arrested 19-year-old Nasiar Day, of Newark, on Thursday, two days after police found 30-year-old Jose Malave in the doorway of his Jersey City apartment.

Advertisement

Day is charged with murder, armed burglary and weapon offenses. He remains in custody and it is not clear whether he has a lawyer to comment on his behalf.

A 17-year-old also is charged with murder.

Family members told The Jersey Journal Malave’s son had been targeted earlier in the day for his sneakers by a group of teenagers. Relatives say the teens came to Malave’s home and he defended his son when an altercation ensued.

Malave reportedly died in front of his girlfriend and four of his children.

His sister, Yesenia Malave, said her brother could be counted on to cheer others up.

"He was always outgoing, always happy, always trying to help people," Yesenia Malave said in a phone interview with NJ.com. "You could be down and he was the one who could bring your life up."

Jesus Malave, the victim's nephew, said he was "full of life."

A GoFundMe page has been created in an effort to help pay for funeral services. A petition has been started urging prosecutors to charge both suspects as adults in the slaying.